Liberal Fascists - Pakistan's Native Enablers

Liberal Fascists: Pakistan’s Native Enablers

Saad Hasan

At the height of fascism in 1935, the Nobel laureate, Sinclair Lewis presciently stated that “when fascism comes to American it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross”. The conduct of US government subsequent to 9/11 along with the narrative emanating from the breath of American intelligentsia, opinion and policy makers, be it the right-wing ideologues or the bastion of liberalism, The New York Times, and some democratic stalwarts, at least symbolically affirmed Lewis’ morbid prophecy. Extrapolating the same prophecy onto the Islamic World and in particular Pakistan, it would be safe to say that fascism has entered the fray, ironically, wrapped in the flag of liberalism and carrying the banner of Orwellian “enlightened moderation”, a term championed by that quintessential third world dictator Pervez Musharraf and internalized by liberals of Pakistan to describe all those gathered under the auspices of American war of terror and in support of it’s execution.

In prosecuting Pax-Americana, read “war of terror”, the US government stopped short of reaching the extremes of 30’s and 40’s, at least in the domestic arena, but they did and continue to push the envelope in the Islamic World. In the process, a bevy of native enablers were and continue to be recruited, some willing and eager, others thronging of their own volition strictly to further their local agendas on the back of the imperial war chest and machinery.

Though it would be naïve to think of the native enablers as a homogenous monolith, in fact there is a confluence of forces from the length and breath of Pakistan that identify themselves as left leaning, liberal, and increasingly as secular. These forces have assembled under a liberal coalition of sorts, encompassing such diverse and often adversarial groups and political forces as the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) of the assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, a party with a stated socialist manifesto and covert kelptocratic and totalitarian ethos; the Awami National Party (ANP), the Pukhtoon-nationalist and socialist party which rules the North West Frontier Province and also boasts a sizable constituency in the largest city of Pakistan, Karachi; the ethno-fascist party of urban Sindh province, Mutaihida Quami Movement (MQM), a representative of the urdu-speaking (Indian immigrant) ethnic group, but with a modus operandi that is more of a hybrid between Mafia and quasi-Nazi (Video of MQM’s terrorism - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phwyu7jMfzM); the countless NGOs that have kept the female relatives of the rich, powerful and connected, gainfully employed as well as socially active, and happen to be mostly funded by “foreign” donors; and the English speaking urban elite, which despises all things Pakistani and is more interested in preserving the status quo, where there is an enormous socio-economical gap between the privileged elite and the impoverished masses.

In the aftermath of US invasion of Afghanistan and the later expansion of “war of terror” into Pakistan, staying true to the universal ideals of liberalism and in solidarity with their comrades around the world, one would have expected the liberals of Pakistan to be at the forefront of the anti-war and anti-imperialist movement, manifesting in protests and vocal opposition to Pakistan government’s role in facilitating the egregious American imperial crusade both within and beyond Pakistani borders.

However, the liberals of Pakistan have been the biggest unabashed cheer leaders and propagandist of the American “war of terror”, if not loyal foot soldiers, and therein lies the affliction of liberals in Pakistan, i.e. the absolute betrayal and counteraction of even an ostensible form of liberalism. Even those liberals who are not burdened by overt political affiliations and the compulsion to toe the authoritarian party line (dissent is not tolerated in the liberal Pakistani political parties), are constantly clamoring for the powers that be to employ some of the most brutal tactics in co-opting not only those who are in opposition of the belligerence of their American benefactors in the region but also whoever else happens to be averse to their agendas in the local socio-political environment.

These tactics make mockery of the universally accepted human rights, civilized conduct, and more or less constitutes war crimes. The drone attacks, which until last year had killed 700 Pakistani civilians and only 14 suspected terrorists, are not condemned; rather a persistent demand for their continuation and even expansion is evinced. It should be mentioned that drone attacks happen to be illegal under international law, even suspected or accused terrorists have to be afforded their proverbial day in the court. But when the likes of Asma Jehangir, the chairman of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and a liberal extraordinaire can be invariably seen on the Pakistani political talks shows, demanding the government to do more, read bomb more, in combating terrorism (her conduct leading up to the massacre in Lal (Red) Mosque of Islamabad was particularly despicable), very little can be expected from the champions of human rights and paragons of liberalism in Pakistan. As such, the deafening silence on and failure to oppose in a tangible way, the disappearance and subsequent sale to CIA of both innocent Pakistani citizens and foreigners by the Musharraf regime for the paltry sum of $5000 per head, was only natural for Pakistani liberals.

Meanwhile, the rhetoric often espoused by liberals of Pakistan in various fora is indistinguishable from the rhetoric that is typical of the right wing and neocon ideologues in America, right down to pejoratives used to describe the existential enemy, gross generalizations to broaden the targeted group, and astounding hubris to rally support from their respective bases. Labels such as Wahabis, Mullahs, Fundos (Fundamentalists in Pakistani vernacular) and Taliban are frequently used to describe those not on the “war of terror” bandwagon, in so far as one tends to believe it is Fox News they are watching and not one of the Pakistani TV channels.

There is also movement afoot to marginalize conservative or religiously-oriented Pakistanis which also coincides with the ethnocentric agenda of at least one major component of the “liberal coalition”, that is the ethno-fascist party of urban Sindh province, MQM. Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and capital of Sindh province has a sizeable population of ethnic pushtuns, most of who tend to be conservative and the same ethnicity as the Taliban. Since Karachi also happens to be the base of MQM and its dominion, it cannot tolerate another ethnic group prospering and diluting its power on its turf. Therefore, MQM often uses the boogey of Taliban to carry out pogroms against the Pushtuns in Karachi. One can see MQM’s stalwart mayor of Karachi, Mustafa Kamal, openly spewing his virulently racist views against Pushtuns of his city, in an interview of conducted by, of all outlets, NPR, and aired on June 3rd, 2008. Kamal, despite possessing a very crude and thuggish demeanor, evident in his many dealings with media, political opponents, and the ordinary citizens of his own city, and an equally poor command of the English language, is a blue-eyed native enabler of US state department. In one video on youtube, he can be seen telling President Clinton that the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif is a “Mullah”, though to Clinton’s credit, the latter is not impressed by the inane assertion. Kamal makes frequent trips to US and has just recently finished a lecture series at Ivy-league colleges. Being a foot soldier in the Imperial crusade does have its perks.

With Obama’s ascension into the presidency and given his lofty pre-election rhetoric, there was a mild sense of optimism that the ill-conceived policies of the previous administration if not reversed, would at least be recalibrated, resulting in a more nuanced rules of engagement in the region. Furthermore, instead of betting the house on the fickle and insidious “liberal coalition”, who like all native enablers across the Muslim world, have been taking the Americans for a ride, perhaps some small steps of cooperation could have been taken in taking the conservative, possibly even the Islamist forces in Pakistan on board. This would have gone a long way in further isolating Al-Qaida, thus allowing the “western coalition” to achieve some tactical goals in the “war of terror”, paving the way for even strategic alignment with the religious elements in the long-run. Alas, for all of Obama’s cerebral prowess, he ended up deferring to the fallacious and discredited wisdom and methods of Neocons. In the process he has assumed the patronage of ruthless opportunists, who can be best described as pseudo-liberals and worst as liberal fascists, doing America’s bidding in the AFPAK region, thereby, diminishing the possibility of long-term success of the endeavor. However, a deeper question for Pakistanis to ponder is where are the true liberals of Pakistan? Where is Pakistan’s Arunduthi Roy?